Making fun of fashion

Move over Zoolander, when you need a brilliant satire of the fashion and celebrity world, there’s only one person to turn to: filmmaker and photographer Matthew Frost.

July 29, 2015

WHO’S THE ONE DIRECTOR/PHOTOGRAPHER THAT PEOPLE FIND NOT ONLY THOROUGHLY ENTERTAINING, BUT IS ALSO QUITE THE HOT PROPERTY IN THE FASHION AND CELEBRITY WORLD RIGHT NOW?
Definitely Matthew Frost. Tongue-in-cheek, satirical, lampooning, whatever folks want to call it, he’s been called upon by the likes of American Vogue, but also hip, independent labels to create short films that poke fun at contemporary pop culture. Such as his film with Lizzy Caplan, simply titled Fashion Film. Dealing with all the possible pretentious clichés that the fashion film genre throws up, it promptly went viral and, amusingly, more work from the fashion world started to roll in. Frost has a theory why:

“I think that the Fashion World is more open to poking fun at itself and tries not to take itself too seriously. I fit into that maybe.”

SO WHERE DID HE GET HIS START?
He started out as a production assistant on the film Donnie Darko, and then started shooting music videos for the French electronic band M83 and various television commercials. He never set out to work in fashion film, per se, but the patterns he was seeing were too irresistible to resist. There’s a brilliant, also tongue-in-cheek profile you can watch calledContent with Content. If you wonder about the accent, though…

“I was born in London from British and American parents and grew up in the south of France. My nickname is ‘French Matthew’ though, somehow.”

SO WHAT’S SO SPECIAL ABOUT HIS WORK?
Ultimately, it’s all so well-observed. Drawing mainly from personal experience and the grand ol’ internet, the New York-based Frost adds layer upon layer of satirical details, both visually and verbally, through the scripts. He’s hoping to push the short film format further and to see how it translates into a feature of some sort. But if he could describe it in words:

BUT THERE WAS ALSO MENTION OF CELEBRITIES? WHERE ARE THEY?
Patience! He’s also worked with Cate Blanchett, Kirstin Dunst and Jessica Chastain in equally funny and poignant short films. He had this to say about all the leading ladies he’s filmed thus far:

“When you put all of these talented ladies in the same sentence, it does sound very glamorous, but they are all very down-to-earth and easy-going people with great senses of humour, which makes everything easy. Though a bird pooped on my shoulder as I said goodbye to Jessica, but I think that’s good luck.”

Her single Here has been praised by basically everyone and her debut album is expected this autumn. Oh and she’s been endorsed by Taylor Swift. This is Alessia Cara, also known as ‘the next big thing in music’.